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Wednesday, April 27, 2011

After my last post on playing with Picnik a few people asked me to demonstrate how to use the cloning feature on Picnik to blend pictures. I am more than happy to do so but please remember I am a novice at this but I will show you what I know how to do. Please note that you must have a premium membership with Picnik to use the cloning feature. I think it's about 25 bucks a year.

Here's the two pictures I would like to combine:

A pretty background from the Graphics Fairy... &

A cupcake picture (and I forgot where I got this from, sorry).

Once you're on the homepage of Picnik, click on the Library Tab, then click on "Make a Collage." Of course you'll need to upload your pictures here. You'll note on that on the left hand side you can select from a variety of different collage designs. For simplicity I chose just 2 spaces for this design. Once you've chosen your pictures (just drag and drop which pictures you would like) click done and you're ready to clone!

It will look like this. But remember that you can choose as many pictures as you like.

As you can see I want to clone my cupcakes to add to my new background. So, click on the advanced tab at the top of the page and you will see a new menu of items on your left side. The very top one is the cloning feature. Click on the cloning feature and then click on the area of the picture that you want to clone. Next, using your left click on your mouse, add the new picture to the second one (hold left mouse button down and drag on the area of the page that you want to add it to). Note that you can change the size of the brush. Remember too that you can click on "undo" in the right hand corner at any time if you don't like something.

I ended up with this﻿

Notice in the top photo how my cupcakes have some of the former background in the new design? No problem! Simply click on the eraser ﻿(you can change the size of that too to get into really tight places) and drag your mouse around the areas that you don't want.

So I've cleaned up what I didn't want and I am happy with how my transferred cupcakes look like.

Lastly, click on the edit tab and crop your picture. What do you think????﻿

There is so much you can do with Picnik and they have the greatest fonts that you can add too. So give it a shot, explore, experiment and have some fun.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Am I the last person on Earth to find out how much fun Picnik is? I have browsed it before but never really did anything with it until the last month or so and yes, I paid for the premium package. It has a lot of wonderful tools but I know it's not as good as Photoshop. I actually have Photoshop but it overwhelms me and I even bought a book, ha! I am more of a visual learner though so I need to take a class and it is on my list of "things to do before I die."

I wanted to make some vintage type labels for my new cleaning products... more on that later.

I loved these 2 graphics from Dover and the Graphics Fairy so I blended them together to create a label for my kitchen cleanser:

Picnik has a cloning tool which helped me add the flowers to cover up what was in the original label and to add the bird. I used Marcella Font which I lo﻿ve! As you can tell I cropped out some of the original picture too. Since my kitchen is yellow and cobalt blue, this label goes very well! The tag line "All the Clean You Need" is actual a saying I found on a vintage Tide advertisement.

﻿Here you can see that I added a scrub brush from the picture on the right to the rose label.

Again, I added a wash tub to this graphic with the cloning feature. I think this might be my favorite.

Just a couple of more examples...

Most graphics are from the wonderful Graphics Fairy, many of whom love her too!

Some day I will learn to Photoshop but in the meantime I will continue to play with Picnik.

Friday, April 15, 2011

I don't know about you but I just think pretty pink flowers on a warm sunny day are just about perfection! I have survived our long dreary Winter and I am oh so ready for Spring! Yes, I know, technically it is Spring but our temperatures around here don't feel like it. And, I just started seeing some buds on the trees but I am still awaiting some pretty daffodils and tulips, ugh!

As I was looking through my pictures, wondering what to post for this PS, I saw some pretty pictures I took last summer. So, while I am waiting, I thought I would post them again so I can recall that Summer does eventually arrive, right?????

I know some of you are lucky enough to be in a warmer climate and are now enjoying your pretty blossoms.

Well, enjoy them and I hope to be joining you soon!

Happy Pink Saturday! I am linking with Beverly so be sure and stop by and see everyone who's participating in PS today!

Sunday, April 3, 2011

So it's true, I have returned from the beach﻿ where it was rather cold and rainy, but the beach non-the-less! I saw some absolutely beautiful blossoms in South Carolina and I was sooooo jealous! Here in Western New York there's still a bit of snow and we are "patiently" awaiting our blooms! But in the interest of all of my friends, near and far, I thought it would be a good time to post this.

If you're like me, you can't wait to get out in the yard and begin digging and planting. Gardening has become a recent passion of mine and while I am far from a master gardener, I sure do enjoy it. I adore the instant gratification of viewing my hard work: the trimmed bushes, the beautiful rainbow of colors poking through the freshly planted pots, and the neatly trimmed grass. Moreover, I can get literally get lost in all the digging and pulling and planting, not a care in the world. It's hard work but oh so satisfying. As a clinical social worker I often recommend to my clients that they try gardening as a mean of relaxation and meditation as you literally become entranced in your work and think of little else. But did you know that gardening can actually help you feel better?

Scientist have recently discovered that playing in the dirt can actually enhance the mood. Mycobacterium vaccae, a bacteria that is naturally occurring in soil, is thought to stimulate the production of serotonin and norepinephrine in the brain (2) which just might improve the immune system and mood. A lack of serotonin is linked with depression in people. Scientists at Bristol University discovered that lung cancer patients being treated with Mycobacterium vaccae noted improvements in the quality of life. Further, research done with mice exposed to this bacteria have shown increased amounts of serotonin in their brains (1). Thus, more research is being conducted to determine if Mycobacterium vaccae has antidepressant qualities.

So now you have another reason to get out in the garden. Not only will you have a beautiful yard and yummy home-grown veggies, but you may also enhance your mood, naturally!